All Pear Trees

Great choice of Pear trees carefully selected by our horticultural experts and ideal for eating fresh or adding to homemade pies and crumbles. We also stock family pear trees which have two or three different varieties grafted onto one tree, making them self-fertile and a great option when you only have room for one tree!

Choosing, Growing & Harvesting Pear Trees

This section offers many pear varieties and with a few considerations it is easy to narrow it down. Most neighbourhoods have other pear trees that will be used by insects for pollination, but if you live in a remote location and are only planting one pear tree then we recommend a self-fertile variety or family pear tree. The final height and spread depends on a combination of the variety and the rootstock it is grafted onto, so we offer most varieties on a choice of rootstocks. Please note we stock a range of ornamental Pyrus trees if you want a purely ornamental tree.

As pears ripen from the inside, you cannot tell from the skin if they are ready to eat or not. Instead, use the ‘check the neck’ technique. Gently squeeze the neck of the pear and if it yields it is ready to eat. If not, leave a little longer and check again in a day or so. Pears ripen at room temperature but will ripen even faster when placed next to bananas in a fruit bowl.

Interesting Facts About Pear Trees

The name pear is thought to date back to the Aramaic word pira meaning fruit.

Pear fruits can be traced back to pre-historic times with pears cropping up in historical documents, including Roman recipes for spiced, stewed pear.

It is believed that pears have been cultivated in China for 3000 years and even today China produces the most pears in the world, producing 18 million tonnes in 2014.

Williams’ Bon Chrétien is the most widely grown pear variety.

Many place names include the word perry which indicates that the area used to produce pear trees. Perry is also the name given to cider made from pears.

As well as the more traditional culinary uses involving the fruit, the wood can be used to smoke meats as it gives a good aroma.

Pear wood is the chosen material for high quality woodwind instruments and furniture. The wood is also used for making kitchen utensils, such as spoons, ladles and stirrers as it can withstands multiple washes without warping and does not contaminate food with its smell, colour or flavour.